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[Antjewel]

REGISTRATION AND SUBSCRIPTION: Registration as a Member of the Service for free. This service includes the chat and instant messaging features in the VitualFamilyKingdom.com environment. There are enhanced Services which are available which require confirmation of age and identity and this requires that you become a subscriber and pay any related fees. This price list is part of this Agreement And We reserve the right, at any time, to change any fees or charges for using the Service. To become a Member, You must register for the Service. When and if You register to become a Member, You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about Yourself as prompted by Our registration form ("Registration Data"), and to maintain and update Your information to keep it accurate, current and complete. You agree that We may rely on Your Registration Data as accurate, current and complete. You acknowledge that if Your Registration Data is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete in any respect, We reserve the right to terminate this Agreement and Your use of the Service and, in such event, You shall not be entitled to a refund of any unused subscription fees.
So does this mean that eventually we will have to pay to play for enhanced features just like Pirates and other games?

[Patchy]

good catch ant, i wouldn't be surprised that this was going to be in the end...

[Antjewel]

Oh I hope not! If that is the case then I really don't even want to get attached to the game.  And here I thought this game was the answer!

[Purpleduck]

I read that yesterday myself, off of hearing some invisibles talking about it.

T'would seem our Beta testing and all it entails is free, but after they go live.. (was my take anyway).

So I plan to take full advantage of Beta, cause I probably will have to be terribly selective after that, if they hold to this.  (How were they going to pay the VMK hosts anyway?)

I'm hoping that since a lot of us went to VMK for friends, that it will be enough in VFK too.  But have to wait and see I guess.

(  I'll be honest and say I didn't post about it myself yesterday, cause I didn't want to cause any of you wonderful friends to "give up so soon", before we gave it a good go.)

[PrincessWendyBird]

Thanks for the find.  I have to say King and I thought this might be the way it would shake down in the end. With me in a wheelchair, we consider online activities to be a sort of "family activity" which is why VMK was so special for us. Since we home school, we are prepared to see what the cost will be and what will be included in free play. This may be something worth it for our family, it may not.

We, too, will take full advantage of this Beta period and then see what happens from there. By the way, I am not sure on this, but didn't those terms of service used to read something like "at some point in the future we may add special subscription features"? I thought so and was wondering when they may have changed that. 

[Patchy]

I thought they had a company backed them up?

[KingQuackATac]

Well, I would like VFK to be completely free like VMK was. But on the other hand, I was willing to pay-to-play to keep VMK open and I suppose depending on the quality of VFK I would be willing to pay for it.

To be honest, VMK wasn't free anyway. We purchased plenty of movies to get Rewards Points for VMK so we could all have Inferno (which is not working for some strange reason - I even tried it in real but I ended up with a some 1st degree burns). We surely would have booked an extra trip to Disney had they still been offering VMK goodies for doing so, and I know lots of people did this who were playing longer than us.

So, if it means paying a little to have a quality site that's fun, family friendly and lets us interact with our on-line friends in a unique way (like in VMK), I'm OK with that.

[CoralHibiscus]

Nice find!

However at this point with me and no job I will have to keep it at the free play version when they decide to do that. PLus I think paying for school would be a much better payout at the moment.

[KingQuackATac]

Oh and one more thing, one benefit of having to pay for VFK would be weeding out non-serious players (i.e. obnoxious kids) making it a better experience for all. I'm thinkng few in the taken/gimme free crowd will be paying to play.

[KingQuackATac]

Nice find!

However at this point with me and no job I will have to keep it at the free play version when they decide to do that. PLus I think paying for school would be a much better payout at the moment.

Maybe we can convice VFK to award scholarships. Won't playing VFK help you in your Major? 

Seriously, you should contact them about this.

[CoralHibiscus]

Nice find!

However at this point with me and no job I will have to keep it at the free play version when they decide to do that. PLus I think paying for school would be a much better payout at the moment.

Maybe we can convice VFK to award scholarships. Won't playing VFK help you in your Major? 

Seriously, you should contact them about this.

hey it probably could since I'm going for a Public Relations major! 
maybe I should contact them about it.

[PrincessWendyBird]

  Actually, if they want suggestions, a scholarship for some players would be a great idea. It wouldn't just have to be for "kids" only. I think I will send in this idea through contact us after I write out a well thought out proposal for this. They could have a certain amount available and it would be free play for a year at the subscription level. (to be renewed/reviewed each year) Perhaps there could be a form to fill out with some of the "verification" information like age, etc, that they want. It could have a small "essay" type of section explaining why you want to play, reasons pay to play is not feasable, and the way VFK will benefit from your contribution to the community. This would mean only serious players would take the time to apply for a scholarship.

[Adventuredaz]

This has been there from the begining, The developer posted in another location before they lost their mind completely and explained it was included as an incase but that at this early time it is not in their short term plan.  One can never know the direction these thing will take, and even the viability of a a business modle for this operation.  Lets look at what we have.  Technology people with kids that enjoyed VMK shelling out what I would imagine is tens of thousands of dollars to develop a free game they do not intent to include advertising in.  How does this work how can they pay for it.  obviously we will have to wait and see on this whole thing as it develops. For the time being I think the justification is to say their company pulled it off and is capable of amazing things - so basicly a portfolio for their company.  Another posibility that exists is they could sell the game operation to another company that would wish to do other things.  I would not get to worried at this moment any more then will it stay open lets just enjoy being testers for the time being.

[Patchy]

Oh and one more thing, one benefit of having to pay for VFK would be weeding out non-serious players (i.e. obnoxious kids) making it a better experience for all. I'm thinkng few in the taken/gimme free crowd will be paying to play.

hmm wouldn't it weed out some of the obnoxious adults too?... there were some adults in vmk worst than the kids playing...

[Astro]

Nice Find Ant! 

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.  I'm curious to see all that this game has to offer, and I'd like to see a more finished model of it before I make any concrete decisions.

I would have been willing to pay to play VMK, so if this game turns out to be something worth my while, I don't see why not, if it's within a reasonable amount to me.

[Kаsiks]

Personally, I would never pay for that knowing how they take advantage of Disney's VMK's closing to open their game

[Adventuredaz]

Personally, I would never pay for that knowing how they take advantage of Disney's VMK's closing to open their game

It is very difficult to look at this situation as them taking advantage of VMK closing to open their game.  It's a little like saying churchs take advantage of homeless people when they offer them food clothing and shelter.  Its a free offering, they may need it and it's totaly their choice if they come.  Yes they may have to listen to a prayer or sermon from time to time but again nobody is forcing them except the hunger.

[Kаsiks]

Personally, I would never pay for that knowing how they take advantage of Disney's VMK's closing to open their game

It is very difficult to look at this situation as them taking advantage of VMK closing to open their game.  It's a little like saying churchs take advantage of homeless people when they offer them food clothing and shelter.  Its a free offering, they may need it and it's totaly their choice if they come.  Yes they may have to listen to a prayer or sermon from time to time but again nobody is forcing them except the hunger.

I see that more like two companies that make food, X and Y. X is the first company to create food Z and the only one on the market and a lot of people like that food, then for some reasons, X stop making food Z. Y knows that people are still willing to eat food Z so they decide to create food T (same as food Z but with another look, ...), then they advertise that the food T will be the same kind as food Z directly in front of people who were eating food Z and they are taking the opportunity to make money with the fact that X has decided to stop making Z. Basically, I don't like that principle of jumping on an open opportunity.

[Happy]

Only time will tell what features remain free.  I do hope atleast a portion of the games does remain free.  The above terms, it made me think about what features I would like in an online game.  As I know my amount of virtual time will be decreasing, the list was pretty small.  A place to visit with friends topped the list.

I can only speak for myself, but when I sign in to VFK other than friends, it really doesn’t remind me of VMK.  The first thing that pops in to my mind is American Girl Dolls.  Yes, Felicity, Molly, Samantha, and the crew.  Each American Girl Doll has its own story and time period in history.  This is a bit like the various rooms in game and stories on the VFK page.  This would lead me to believe this game may take more of an education route in the form of history and social studies. 

[Disney Dreams]

i don't think it would be unreasonable at all for them to charge a nominal fee at some point.  It has to be quite an expensive venture - and time commitment - to run a game of the level that we are all hoping for VFK to be.

I personally like that they have included that in the terms from the very beginning, even if it is a "just in case" addition.  Upfront.  Honest.  Even if it's a "in case this is needed someday."  Let's be honest about this all: Free and quality is very difficult to find these days.  We were all excited to see a VMK alternative surface - and how many of us said, "Let us pay to keep VMK open"?  IF virtual family kingdom turns out to be a quality game, they are going to have to support it somehow.  A nominal fee would not be surprising.

Personally, I would never pay for that knowing how they take advantage of Disney's VMK's closing to open their game

Interesting take on VFK.  I tend to look at it as, "they offered us all an option that we were searching for when Disney turned their backs on loyal fans."  There are 2 sides to every coin though.

[NotAZoo]

Personally, I would never pay for that knowing how they take advantage of Disney's VMK's closing to open their game

I don't know if I would never pay considering a lot of people said they would be willing to pay for VMK to stay open.   Disney at its core basically shut down VMK with an offering of other Pay to Play services which is exactly what some are saying they wouldn't do with VFK, but would have it it was VMK.   To me if Disney said we will give you another VMK but you would have to pay, then I would probably do it, however with what they are currently offering there is no true VMK equivilant.   Yet the folks at VFK are offering somewhat of an equivilent (with time that is as it is still early), so to me here is a VMK equivilent to some degree, that if it comes close I would highly consider it, just as I would if Disney offered the same thing, but unfortunately they did not.

So in summary, you snooze you lose Disney, and I think that VFK was smart for capitalizing on a niche market that had no place to go.   

[Antjewel]

Hi all! I won't go into details, but I just got back on the NoBS forum today and reading all of your posts gives me a lot of food for thought. That is what I love about this forum. Some of you made some very valid and reasonable points on the issue and I really value your opinions. Thanks friends! I feel a lot better now about it.

[NotAZoo]

I agree...finally a board with no BS!   Literally.

It is nice to have a place where smart and logical conversations can be had, without the banter and flaming you see other places.   Even if people think my opinions stink (which I am sure they do)...at least the replies are handled in a nice manner.

[Kаsiks]

I agree...finally a board with no BS!   Literally.

It is nice to have a place where smart and logical conversations can be had, without the banter and flaming you see other places.   Even if people think my opinions stink (which I am sure they do)...at least the replies are handled in a nice manner.

Your opinions look to be in the trend  compared to mine only a few people think like me hopefully I am not the only one (maybe on this board I am though )

[PrincessWendyBird]

I agree...finally a board with no BS!   Literally.

It is nice to have a place where smart and logical conversations can be had, without the banter and flaming you see other places.   Even if people think my opinions stink (which I am sure they do)...at least the replies are handled in a nice manner.

Your opinions look to be in the trend  compared to mine only a few people think like me hopefully I am not the only one (maybe on this board I am though )

Aww, hugs Key!  I think this is exactly what NotAZoo meant. We can all have completely different opinions and talk about those without things taking an ugly turn or getting personal. While my opinions may be different from someone else, that doesn't affect how I feel about them personally! Woot and Double Woot! 

[disvaclub]

Yes, Ant I caught that in the Terms of Use when it was first posted on the site.  A friend actually asked questions about it on the VFK board and was told that staff said no charge.  Of course, they will say what you want to hear, until its time to pay the bills.

Not many people are reading into it, but they have to fund it somehow someway down the future.   I guess I like to read the fine line of things and follow the rules that are posted.   

[KingQuackATac]

   I guess I like to read the fine line of things and follow the rules that are posted.   

I'm confused and I have two questions: (1) what rules? and (2) where are they posted? Are you talking about VFK here? 

[Adventuredaz]

   I guess I like to read the fine line of things and follow the rules that are posted.   

I'm confused and I have two questions: (1) what rules? and (2) where are they posted? Are you talking about VFK here? 

Terms of Service (TOS) http://virtualfamilykingdom.com/terms_of_service.htm

[Patchy]

Idk, this entire game is still really fishy to me. Unless they had a company like Disney to back it up, I don't know how they would run it for free, unless the guy who runs it is a billionaire.

[disvaclub]

   I guess I like to read the fine line of things and follow the rules that are posted.   

I'm confused and I have two questions: (1) what rules? and (2) where are they posted? Are you talking about VFK here? 

Terms of Service (TOS) http://virtualfamilykingdom.com/terms_of_service.htm

Thanks for the link Add, I thought everyone knew what Ant was talking about. 

[aengus]

I was ready to write them a check but they never seem to be open 

[Kаsiks]

I was ready to write them a check but they never seem to be open 

Now you can they are open 

[KingQuackATac]

LOL Key!

By the way, I don't have an address, but you can contact them by phone:

Virtual Family Kingdom
954-349-3325

Maybe they'll take payment by phone.